The Coral are able to do pretty much whatever they fancy these days: they are unlikely, 10 years into their career, to lose their modest but devoted following, so it is easy for them to indulge whims. Hence their decision to promote next month's best-of album with a one-off acoustic show at the home of the English National Opera.

The Coliseum's grandeur turned out to be a surprisingly apt setting for a night of psychedelia, pop and folk. The most musical of guitar groups, the Coral were undaunted by their surroundings. Once settled into their chairs (this had to be the only show they have done seated), they got stuck into the first of 21 songs. Floating in a bubble of elegantly twangy guitar and full-cream harmonies that apparently come naturally to Liverpool groups, they hardly acknowledged the audience. "This is a new one," was the most we got from singer James Skelly, which was a bit unfair given the crowd's unwavering appreciation of every song.

What was most striking was that each tune - whether the acid-fried Don't Think You're the First, a faithful cover of the Everlys' Bye Bye Love or the early track, Goodbye, starring guest Ian Broudie on guitar - sounded like a lost Merseybeat nugget. The Coral nailed precisely the mixture of innocence, euphoria and melancholy of the early 1960s, sounding as if they had somehow lived through it. There was no shock of the new in any way, but this was a satisfyingly vintage night at the opera.